Row over naming Chicago road after Zia

When the Chicago City Council decided to add former Bangladesh president Ziaur Rahman to the long list of people after whom 1,500 honourary roadways have been named, it had little idea that it was bringing in a long-standing South Asian political feud to play out on the Far North Side, reports Chicago Tribune.
It was Joe Moore, councillor of 49th ward, who backed the naming of the street at Rogers Park on behalf of a group of residents including one who donated $1,000 to his campaign fund, it says.

As he planned a September sign-unveiling ceremony, Moore said he got a call from Mayor Rahm Emanuel's office. The US State Department had been contacted by Mohammad Ziauddin, Bangladeshi ambassador to the United States, who objected to the honour, it adds.
Ziaur Rahman is unfit for the honourary street sign, the envoy said, citing Zia's complicity in the 1975 assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and subsequent treatment of political opponents while running the country until his own assassination in 1982.
Today, Bangladesh's prime minister is Sheikh Hasina, daughter of Bangabandhu, the assassinated president. And it is Bangladesh's official governmental position to oppose the Chicago recognition for Zia, he added.
“We believe the United States has a very strong record on the rule of law, human rights and good governance,” Ziauddin said.
“(Ziaur) Rahman ruled Bangladesh as a tyrant and an oppressor, and this honour stands in opposition to those values.”
Moore, though, went ahead and put up the signs on the 6,600 and 6,800 blocks of North Clark despite the State Department request, reports Chicago Tribune. The councillor, known for bringing up international issues at the City Council, said he did some research and found there's a long history of alleged wrongdoing on both sides of the political divide in Bangladesh.
Moore's decision to press forward landed the city in court. A group of Bangladeshi citizens sued, seeking to have the Ziaur Rahman sign pulled down on the grounds he does not deserve the honour. Their lawyer, Al-Haroon Husain, dismissed Moore's argument that he's equalising the Bangladeshi political calculus on Chicago streets, says the report.
“You should consider the merits of the individual, whether that person deserves to be honoured in this way,” Husain said. “It shouldn't be a question based on political party.”
On Tuesday, a judge ruled in the city's favour and dismissed the lawsuit, but Husain said his clients are considering refiling it.
Meanwhile, the Bangladeshi embassy has sent letters to cities across the US to try to enlighten mayors about Ziaur Rahman so he doesn't receive additional recognition of the kind he's getting in Chicago, Ziauddin said.